Book-holder.



PATENTED SEPT. 6, 1904.

1). E. HUNTER. 1

BOOK HOLDER. APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 7, 1903.

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no MODEL.

Jwemdwf @MaW No. 769,221. PATENTED SEPT. 6; 1904, D. E. HUNTER.

BOOK HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED D160. 7, 1903.

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' UNITED ST T-Es? Patented SeptemberG, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

LIBRARY BUREAU, OF BOSTON, M

NEW JERSEY;

BOOK-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,221, dated September 6, 1904, Application filed December '7, 1903. Serial No. 184,011- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAvID EDGAR HUNTER, a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts,have invented new and useful Improvements in Book- Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to holders for books and the like; and its object is to provide a simple, cheap, and efficient book-holder that will hold a row of books upright on a shelf and one that will permit the addition or removal of books with ease and rapidity.

My improved book-holder comprises a shelf having at least one end wall, and above this shelf is arranged a presser-support, carrying a presser having at one end a clutch connection therewith. The clutch connection between the end of the presser and its support is such that when the presser is in engagement with the end of a row of books it is clutched to its sup port and when its free end is out of engagement with or forced toward the end of the row of books the presser is unclutchedfrom its support and can be adjusted thereon lengthwise of its support to take up the space occupied-by a removed book or to make room for an additional book.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of a bookcase embodying one form of my invention. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view of the presserhereinafter described. Fig. 4 isa detail View of the upper end of the presser and its support.

Having reference to the drawings, 1 1 represent the shelves of a bookcase, and 2 2 the end walls thereof. Herein I have shown the shelves 1 l as made of sheet metal and each formed under its rear edge with a pressersupport, (shown as a channel 3,) in which is arranged the' T-shaped head 4: of a presser 4:. The presser'4 at its free end is rounded and dished to provide a knob to bear against the end of a row of books scratching the end book.

The books are placed on the shelf between presser A and end wall 2, after which the T- shaped head of the presser is moved along channel 3 until the free rounded end of said presser bears against the end book on the shelf. As soon as presser 4 is free from the grasp of the operator the row of books tends to expand or fall toward said presser; but as soon as pressure is exerted by the books on the free end of the presser the T-shaped head of presser 4 clutches channel 3 and the presser is heldim'movable. To instantly free the books fromthe presser, sary is to lift the free end of said presser or to press said free end toward the books, which with out marring or ASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF all that is necesdisengages or unclutches its T-shaped head from channel 3.

Heretofore one type of holder for books has been made from a strip of sheet metal bent to form a right angle and was used by laying one side of the angle upon the shelf or other support and stacking the end books of the row on the horizontal side of the angle, so that the row was supported by the vertical side of the angle. An objection to such holders, however, has been that besides marring the support on which the holder was placed the side beneath the book's would injure the latter. With my improved holder the presser is supported from above and does not depend upon the weight of the books to hold it in place. Moreover,=the rounded free end of presser is the only part in engagement with the book, and the entire shelf is left clear.

What I claim is p 1. A holder for books comprising a shelf provided with an end wall, a presser made with a lateral clutch-head, and a presser-support arranged above the shelf made with a channel in which the head of the presser is mounted so as to clutch therewith when pressure is exerted on the free end of the presser.

2. In a book-holder the combinationwith a shelf and a channel 3 arranged above the same, of a presser 4 having a head 4: mounted in the channel 3, substantially as described 3. A holder for books comprising a shelf provided with an end wall; a presser made with a T-shaped head; and a support for the presser arranged above the shelf and made with a channel in which the T shaped head of the presser is mounted so as to clutch there 10 with when pressure is exerted on the free end of the presser.

Signed by me at Boston, l\ Iassachusetts, this 1st day of December, 1903. 1

DAVID EDGAR HUNTER. Witnesses:

F. (J. Rossnononen, C. M. COBB. 

